Dancing With The Stars' Maksim Chmerkovskiy to Serve as Grand Marshal for 2013 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race

Dancing With The Stars' Maksim Chmerkovskiy to Serve as Grand Marshal for 2013
Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race
Paul McDonald to Sing National Anthem to Kick Off 37th Annual Charitable Event
PR Newswire
LONG BEACH, Calif., April 8, 2013
LONG BEACH, Calif., April 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --"Dancing with the Stars"
professional dancer and popular cast member Maksim Chmerkovskiy will bring his
ballroom flair to the 37th Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race as grand marshal of the
long-running, prestigious charitable event. Chmerkovskiy will be joined by
singer and former "American Idol" contestant Paul McDonald, who will open the
race by performing the national anthem.
Chmerkovskiy, a Latin ballroom dance champion, choreographer and instructor,
thrilled audiences as an outspoken and fiery competitor on "Dancing with the
Stars." McDonald was a popular finalist on Season 10 of "American Idol,"
performing original music from his band, The Grand Magnolias.
The participation of both celebrities adds to the impressive list of Toyota
Pro/Celebrity Race drivers from film, television, music, sports and the
military who will speed through the historic 1.97-mile street circuit on the
streets of downtown Long Beach, Calif. They include one of Mexico's most
acclaimed actresses Kate del Castillo; Jenna Elfman, star of "1600 Penn";
Olympic gold medalist Jessica Hardy; "Dallas" star Jesse Metcalfe; actor
Jackson Rathbone, best known for his role as Jasper Hale in the hit "Twilight"
movie series; comedian Wanda Sykes, Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer and
Jeremy Sisto, star of "Suburgatory."
The celebrity participants also include Brett Davern, star of MTV's hit series
"Awkward"; Mark Steines host of Hallmark Channel's "Home & Family"; Michael
Trucco of SyFy's acclaimed series "Battlestar Galactica" and most recently
"Revenge"; Fox Sports/SPEED auto racing analyst and co-host of "Top Gear USA"
Rutledge Wood and 2012 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race winner and comedian Adam
Carolla. Each will get behind the wheel of an identically prepared, race-ready
Scion FR-S sports car to compete in the 10-lap event.
"We are thrilled to have Maksim Chmerkovskiy serve as grand marshal and Paul
McDonald sing the anthem before this year's race, bringing more star power to
this high-profile charitable event," said Les Unger, Toyota national
motorsports manager. "Together their presence will help bring more attention
to the children who benefit from The Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race."
The Toyota Pro/Celebrity race is one of the longest-running,
corporate-sponsored events of its kind. Toyota annually donates $5,000 to
Racing for Kids on behalf of each participant and another $5,000 to the
winning racer's charity of choice. Racing for Kids – a national nonprofit
program benefiting children's hospitals throughout the country – was created
as a way to connect these children with their favorite celebrities and race
car drivers.
Since 1991, Toyota has donated more than $2 million to the Racing for Kids
organization, on behalf of this race and its participants. In addition to
Toyota's contributions, a $15,000 donation will be made in conjunction with
the 16th annual "People Pole Award." Sponsored by People magazine, the award
honors the pole-position winner of the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race qualifying
session on April 19.
To learn more about the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, visit
www.toyotaracing.com/series/toyota-pro-celebrity.html.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE: TM) established operations in the United States in 1957 and
currently operates 10 manufacturing plants. Toyota directly employs over
31,000 in the U.S. and its investment here is currently valued at more than
$23 billion, including sales and manufacturing operations, research and
development, financial services and design.
Toyota is committed to being a good corporate citizen in the communities where
it does business and believes in supporting programs with long-term
sustainable results. Toyota supports numerous organizations across the
country, focusing on education, the environment and safety. Since 1991, Toyota
has contributed nearly 700 million to philanthropic programs in the U.S.
For more information on Toyota's commitment to improving communities
nationwide, visit http://www.toyota.com/philanthropy.
CONTACT:
Les Unger Rebecca Lee
Toyota Racing GolinHarris for Toyota
310-468-4709 213-438-8827
les_unger@toyota.com rlee@golinharris.com
Erika Romero Sharon Noot
Toyota Racing Noot Incorporated
310-468-3948 714-527-7735
erika_romero@toyota.com sharon@nootinc.com
SOURCE Toyota
Website: http://www.toyota.com